Reprints twenty-two of Burrow's essays on fourteenth- and fifteenth-century poetry, including several on Chaucer. Individual essays retain their original pagination.
Gutiérrez Arranz, José María.
J. Martin Arista, et al., eds. Convergent Approaches to Medieval English Language and Literature (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012), pp. 293-311.
Following a discussion of classical and medieval translation, imitation, commentary, and glossing, tabulates the sources of Bo--with newly proposed titles that fuse "interpretatio" and "exercitatio."
Zholudeva, Liubov.
J. Martin Arista, et al., eds. Convergent Approaches to Medieval English Language and Literature (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012), pp. 159-75.
Comparative analysis of "Li livres de confort" and Bo, and study of French linguistic influence on English, with special focus on prepositions. The comparison shows a prevailing tendency to reproduce the structures and usages of French, though only…
Arista, J. Martin, et al., eds.
Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012.
Collection of essays presented at the 22nd International Conference of the Spanish Society for Mediaeval English Language and Literature (SELIM), seeking new perspectives on medieval language study. For two essays pertaining to Chaucer, search for…
Smith, Jeremy J.
English Studies 93 (2012): 593-603
Discusses Chaucer's use of "this" (e.g., "this carpenter," "this sely man," etc.). Replaces its usual explanation as a colloquialism with a discussion of the changing meaning of demonstrative "this"/"that" from Old English onward and applies this to…
Argues that the phrase "for gode" in MilT (I.3526) is not, as is often assumed, a misspelling meaning "by God," but rather an intentional use of a phrase appearing in unsophisticated texts of the period. The phrase has similarly been misunderstood in…
Phillips, Susan E.
Chaucer Review 46-1.2 (2011): 39-59.
Examines the varying degrees and uses of multilingualism among the Canterbury pilgrims and the characters in their tales, commenting on the facile "linguistic posing" of several speakers (Pardoner, Parson, Wife of Bath, Summoner and his characters)…
Machan, Tim William.
Studies in Philology 87 (2012): 147-76.
Critiques traditional treatment of Chaucer's English as the main antecedent of modern English and the assertion that it is representative. Chaucer's English is more conservative than that of many of his contemporaries and of general spoken discourse.…
In the five instances in which "male," meaning "bag or pouch" or "holder of writing," appears in CT, the word can also mean "man, male gender, or genitals," "stomach," and "wrongdoing." Through this wordplay, Chaucer reveals his anxieties about the…
Frye, Northrop, and Robert B. Denham.
UTQ 81 (2012): 95-110.
Chaucer is aware of poetic or aureate diction but seldom uses it. He is "essentially a poet of 'occupatio'." Language change rapidly made Chaucer's meter difficult to imitate, even for Lydgate. Like other writers, Chaucer introduces new Latinate…
Explores human affiliations with the "non-power" of animals in four Chaucerian images: capons in PardT, mouse in WBP (in contrast with lioness), stags in KnT, and carrion in ClT. Contrasts these with the brass steed as an image of power in SqT.
Surveys rhetorical approaches to Chaucer and documents the "renaissance in rhetoric" in late fourteenth-century England by surveying manuscripts that contain rhetorical treatises. The impact of this renaissance is evident in Chaucer's poetry: while…
Van Nolcken, Christina.
ChauR 47.1 (2012): 107-33.
Discusses William Thomas Stead's 1895 publication of Masterpiece Library's CT, part of the "Penny Poets" series, and its effects on the circulation of Chaucer's works.
Provides an "anatomy of Lydgate's engagement with" ClT, documenting his "many Griseldas": muse, "haughty beloved," "antithesis of contemporary women," "exemplary spouse," woman who "falls short of being the Virgin Mary," "victim of…
Pugh, Tison, and Angela J. Weisl.
London: Routledge, 2012.
Analysis of the influence of medieval literature and culture on contemporary film, literature, and various academic disciplines. Includes discussion of Chaucer's CT, KnT, PF, and TC.
McLane, Maureen N.
New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2012.
Combines memoir with literary criticism to explore the importance of poetry in the examined life. Begins with discussion of TC and Chaucer's use of "kankedort."
Bowers, John M.
R. F. Yeager and Toshiyuki Takamiya, eds. The Medieval Python: The Purposive and Provocative Work of Terry Jones (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), pp. 105-17
Dates HF in the mid-1380s, positioning it as a "transitional work" between TC and CT and a reflection of Chaucer's status at the time as a king's man. Argues that LGW was written concurrently with CT, with LGWP-F as early as 1392, and revised as…
Wallace, David.
R. F. Yeager and Toshiyuki Takamiya, eds. The Medieval Python: The Purposive and Provocative Work of Terry Jones (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), pp. 195-205.
Comments on how the Hundred Years War "infiltrates" CT by way of "the first trio of portraits" and their depictions of late medieval warfare. Clarifies the meaning of "chyvachie" in the description of the Squire and dilates upon the significance of…
Quinn, William A.
R. F. Yeager and Toshiyuki Takamiya, eds. The Medieval Python: The Purposive and Provocative Work of Terry Jones (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), pp. 167-79.
Corroborates Terry Jones's view that Chaucer was a pacifist, and argues that Jones and Chaucer both use humor and indirection against war. Chaucer was very earnest in his critiques of war in Mel and ParsT, but less direct in KnT and his description…
